Summary of Session

Digital textbooks have the potential to level the playing field by being accessible to all students. This session will review the established sources of accessible format textbooks as well as emerging standards and technologies for discovering commercial eTextbooks.

Abstract

Digital textbooks have the potential to level the playing field by being accessible to all students, regardless of disability, but a fragmented marketplace makes it difficult to become aware of new and innovative products. For students with disabilities to enjoy the same benefits of shopping for textbooks on the open market, there must be consistent and reliable product information on which to base purchasing and renting decisions.
This session will review the established sources of accessible format textbooks as well as emerging standards and technologies for discovering both commercial and freely-available eTextbooks based on their accessibility features and a student’s needs and preferences. We will cover the basics of accessibility metadata (http://a11ymetadata.org), which build on IMS Access for All and complement LRMI, and associated human-readable Document Accessibility Profiles. Finally, we will discuss the impact on the traditional role of the disability service office to convert textbooks into accessible formats.

Kepoints

Existing and emerging methods for finding accessible textbooks

How accessibility is entering commercial eTextbooks

A strategy for addressing this issue with students

Speaker Bio(s)

Robert Martinengo

Robert Martinengo is the Project Director for the Center for Accessible Materials Innovation (CAMI). . CAMI is a First in the World grant funded project to improve academic success for post-secondary students with print related disabilities Robert has been making instructional materials accessible to students with disabilities for 20 years. At Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (now Learning Ally), Robert was the Studio Director in Los Angeles, California when RFB&D developed digital production and distribution systems. Robert was the Supervisor of the Alternate Text Production Center of the California Community Colleges, where he instituted the first publisher file request system. Robert has written for Accessible Content Magazine, consulted for the Maryland Department of Disabilities, and given presentations on accessibility to the Association of American Publishers, the World Bank, the Text and Academic Author Association, and others.